Distal pins used currently in surgery of the hand for the consolidation of the joints have diameters from 0.8 mm to 3 mm in steps of 0.2 mm to 0.5 mm. There exists, for protecting the end of this pin, in the external portion, a distal securement element in the form of a ball of plastic material resisting autoclaving. This ball is pierced diametrically by a hole permitting the passage of distal pins of similar diameters. For example, a distal securement element whose bore is 1.2 mm in diameter can receive pins that are 0.8 mm, 1.00 mm and 1.2 mm. For larger diameters, the exterior diameter of the ball will be greater. All these existing distal securement elements are pierced in the equatorial plane with a tapped hole in which the screwing action of a screw driver on a headless screw applies point pressure to the pin inserted in the element, such that this element will thus be fixed in rotation and in translation on the pin, thus preventing the latter from drifting relative to the hand, or relative to any other part of the body in which this pin might be implanted.
The distal securement element facilitates by its shape the treatment in dressing the wound, it thus makes it unnecessary for a surgeon to bend by 90 degrees the distal pin as was the case before this distal securement element.
To permit use of a securement element of this type for all diameters of existing pins, it has been proposed (French 2,633,822) to provide the securement element with orthogonal bores at the crossing of which opens the tapped hole of the clamping screw. This known arrangement is difficult to use by the physician, who must choose the bore corresponding to the pin which he has emplaced. Moreover, the unused bore constitutes a receptacle for organic products and organisms which are dangerous for the adjacent wound.